General (3)Public Comment
From: Denise Colber <
Sent: Monday, April 19, 2021 4:17 PM
Subject: Public Comments
I am writing to you as Orange County desperately needs your assistance to right an ongoing wrong!
There is massive and ongoing fraud.
In short: the public was promised that tolls on the 73 would cover that facility's debt
service and, after OVER 30 years (by now), what started as a toll road would become a
freeway, i.e., a public road with no tolls.
That promise has been broken. The insult to this injury is that presently there is no discernible
earnest effort to do anything to rectify the situation. Indeed, the 73's debt, which started below
$900 million, now stands above $2.4 billion. Meanwhile special interests enrich themselves, bond
holders enjoy a sweet deal... even as the traveling public continues to get stiffed.
The upshot, given the rising tolls, is that traffic on the other public roads is more congested than it
should be, notably traffic on the 405 and Coast Highway. Each day tens of thousands of vehicles,
for example, drive twice through Laguna Beach, merely to avoid the tolls.
There is a documented history of how the toll road agency and its enabling partner agencies of
Caltrans, OCTA and the County Board of Supervisors has abused the public trust. Additional
forensic audits may be in the offing. However, what does, what will it matter?
I ask that question as none of this information has begun to provide a meaningful remedy. And any
new insights will similarly fail to provide a remedy. The lone remedy is for the original public
promise to be fulfilled for the toll road to become a freeway.
I am writing with hope you will consider helping to advance the righteous remedy. Honestly it's
hard to imagine absent the involvement of someone like you, our elected official how the
debt, still climbing, can ever be retired.
By way of background, below a link to the relevant Orange County Grand Jury Report of 2019-
2020.
http://www.oc rg andjga.org/.../2020-06-29_GJ_ Report_TCA.pdf
https://www.ocregister.com/ ... /these -toll -roads -wont ... /
https://www.lagunabeachindy.com/letter-toll-road-thoughts
Please look into removing the City for the TCA Joint Power Agreement so they can finally commit
to paying down the bonds. The numbers above are just for the 73 Toll Road and do Not Include
the massive debt burden on the Foothill Branch.
Thank you
Marie C.